Entries include one person raising funds to help his home town of Brisbane following the floods and someone recovering from a brain aneurism.

A Lincolnshire man is also travelling all the way from Peru to take part.

Added to the usual 10K and wheelchair races are the Get Mummy Fit Buggy Push, the Running Imp primary school race and the Lincoln College secondary school race.

Groups of runners can enter as a team this year, with the Lincoln Wellington Athletic Club Challenge and the Wilkin Chapman Epton Blades Solicitors Company Challenge.

Keith Taylor, Senior Sport Development Officer at the City Council, said: “People have got into the spirit this year and booked early to take part in the Lincoln 10K.

“We think this is partly down to our new dedicated website, which we launched this year.

“It makes the application process very easy and we’ve had 90% of our applications through the site,” Taylor explained.

Councillor Alister Williams at the City of Lincoln Council added: “Lincoln offers something different to regular runners, with its historic setting, and the variety of races means that everyone can take part in some way.”